Cowgirls Set for Pair of Matches in Las Vegas

Thursday, March 9

Stillwater, OK

5 p.m.

Oklahoma State University

Baylor

Photo by: International Tennis Hall of Fame

March 10, 2017 | Cowgirl Tennis

PDF Notes

STILLWATER – The seventh-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team heads west to Las Vegas, Nev., this weekend for a pair of Spring Break matches against No. 45 UNLV and Washington State. OSU will take on UNLV on Sunday at the Fertitta Tennis Complex, before a neutral site showdown with the Cougars on Monday. Both matches are set for 10 a.m. PT.

Watch and Follow the Matches
There will be no live scoring or streaming for either of the Cowgirls' matches in Vegas. Follow @CowgirlTennis on Twitter for updates.

Notable Streaks and Trends
?The Cowgirls have spent 49 consecutive weeks in the ITA top 25. The last time OSU was outside the top 25 was March 18, 2014.
?The Cowgirls have won 20 or more matches in each of the last two seasons.
?Oklahoma State has won 15-straight regular season conference matches dating back to March 29, 2015, when the Cowgirls came up short, 4-3, at Texas Tech.
?Since 2012, OSU has made five-straight NCAA Tournament appearances. That streak is the second-longest in program history behind a 10-year streak that saw the Cowgirls earn NCAA Tournament berths from 1982-91.
?OSU has won 28-straight matches at the Greenwood Tennis Center, dating back to March of 2015.
?The Cowgirls were impressive during the fall, racking up a 65-16 (.802) overall singles record and a 28-14 (.667) overall mark in doubles.
?That success has continued this spring, as OSU opened the 2017 dual season with six sweeps in its first 14 matches.

Last Time Out
The seventh-ranked Oklahoma State women's tennis team opened its Big 12 season on Thursday with a 4-1 victory over No. 10 Baylor in its first match back at the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center since Jan. 29. The win was the Cowgirls' 15th-straight regular season conference match and 28th consecutive home win.

No. 7 Oklahoma State 4, No. 10 Baylor 1
March 9, 2017 | Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center | Stillwater, Okla.

Doubles | Order of finish: 2, 1
No. 1: No. 6 Babic/Tur Mari (OKST) def. No. 22 Shankle/Profit (BU) 6-3
No. 2: No. 37 Blanco/Bolsova (OKST) def. Shakhraichuk/Hinojosa (BU) 6-3
No. 3: No. 32 Adamovic/Lushkova (OKST) vs. Newborn/Van Zyl (BU) 4-5, unf.

Singles | Order of finish: 3, 2, 6, 4
No. 1: No. 10 Viktoriya Lushkova (OKST) vs. No. 11 Blair Shankle (BU) 6-2, 2-6, 2-1, unf.
No. 2: No. 76 Katarina Adamovic (OKST) def. No. 110 Rhiann Newborn (BU) 6-3, 6-3
No. 3: No. 43 Aliona Bolsova (OKST) def. Elizabeth Profit (BU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 4: No. 92 Vladica Babic (OKST) def. Theresa Van Zyl (BU) 6-4, 6-3
No. 5: Lena Ruppert (OKST) vs. Angie Shakhraichuk (BU) 6-2, 3-6, 1-1, unf.
No. 6: Jessica Hinojosa (BU) def. No. 122 Sofia Blanco (OKST) 6-4, 6-2

Dominating the Big 12
The Cowgirls have arisen as a force in the Big 12 Conference over the last several seasons. Since 2013, OSU has won 28 conference matches, which ranks second only to Baylor's 31.

The Cowgirls have made three of the last four Big 12 Championship matches, finally breaking through to win their first since 2003 last year with a 4-0 win over Texas Tech.

OSU has won 15-straight regular season conference matches, dating back to March of 2015. That mark ranks fourth among Power Five schools, behind North Carolina, Miami and Florida. A look:

School                                  Consecutive Conf. Wins
North Carolina (ACC)                         31
Florida (SEC)                                      17
Miami (ACC)                                       16
Oklahoma State (Big 12)                  15
Ohio State (Big Ten)                           12

Home Court Advantage
Since it opened for the 2013-14 season, the Michael and Anne Greenwood Tennis Center has proven a tough place to play for Cowgirl opponents. After an undefeated 18-0 mark at home last year and a 6-0 home start this season, OSU has racked up a 43-2 overall record in the facility over the last four seasons. A look at the numbers:

Season                  OSU Record at GTC
2013-14                6-1
2014-15                13-1
2015-16                18-0
2016-17                6-0
Total                     43-2

Series Notes: UNLV
?Sunday will mark the fifth meeting in the series between the Rebels and the Cowgirls. The two teams have split the previous four matches, 2-2.
?The series dates back to 1995, when UNLV dropped OSU, 5-4, in Las Vegas.
?UNLV took the last meeting, 6-1, in 2008.
?This weekend will be Chris Young's first matchup with the Rebels since coming to Stillwater.

Series Notes: Washington State
?The Cowgirls and Cougars are meeting for the third time this Monday, with the programs having split the previous two contests.
?The first meeting in the series was in 1995, when OSU defeated the Cougars, 5-4.
?Washington State took the last meeting in the series, 5-2, in 2004.

Super Seniors
The experienced Cowgirl roster includes three seniors this season, all of which have been major contributors to the growth of the OSU women's tennis program. Katarina Adamovic, Carla Tur Mari and Viktoriya Lushkova have combined for 243 singles wins, 257 doubles wins, three All-America honors and 10 All-Big 12 accolades while helping the Cowgirls to a 79-23 dual record.

Record Watch
?Viktoriya Lushkova's .810 career win percentage in singles ranks second all-time in program history. She is the first player since Kate Vasylyeva in 2003 to break onto that list.
?With 90 career singles wins, Viktoriya Lushkova is currently second on the Big 12 era career list, and only four wins away from sealing the No. 1 spot. She is fifth on the doubles Big 12 era list with 84 career wins.
?With 84 career doubles wins, Katarina Adamovic sits in fifth on the program Big 12 era career doubles wins list. With a .798 win percentage in doubles, Adamovic's doubles win percentage leads the Big 12 era list in that category as well, along with Vladica Babic.
?With 89 career doubles wins, Carla Tur Mari is currently the program's active leader in that category, while also sitting in third in the Big 12 era program record book. She is also fourth in singles with 87 career wins.

Young Guns
While the 2016-17 Cowgirl roster boasts plenty of experience, the young talent that head Coach Chris Young has brought on board over the last couple of seasons is evident as well, especially with a pair of newcomers.

Freshman Aliona Bolsova (Spain) joined the Cowgirls this fall after finishing one of the most decorated junior careers of any signee in Cowgirl history, having been been ranked as high as No. 4 in the ITF world junior rankings with a number of impressive wins under her belt.

Freshman Lena Ruppert (Germany) has been ranked as high as the No. 70 player in Germany, while recording five wins against players in the top-50. Ruppert came to OSU this fall rated as one of the top-10 players under the age of 18.

Impressively, the Cowgirl underclassmen (Bolsova, Ruppert, and sophomores Sofia Blanco and Katarina Stresnakova) have combined for a 65-20 record (.765 win pct.) so far this season.

Cowgirls in the ITA Rankings
The Oklahoma State women's tennis team rose four spots to No. 7 in the Intercollegiate Tennis Association team rankings this week. The Cowgirls also have six players ranked in singles and four ranked doubles teams.

The Cowgirls are also slotted at No. 5 in the USTA Top 25.

Senior Viktoriya Lushkova remains in the top 10 of the ITA singles rankings this week, coming in at No. 10. Lushkova has turned in a spectacular senior season thus far, compiling a 17-7 overall mark in singles to reach 90 wins for her career and counting.

Freshman Aliona Bolsova made an 11-point rise up the poll to No. 43 this week after splitting matches at the No. 3 singles spot last weekend. Bolsova has had an impressive opening to her collegiate career thus far, racking up a team-leading 18 wins on the year.

Seniors Carla Tur Mari and Katarina Adamovic come in at Nos. 68 and 76, respectively, while junior Vladica Babic finds herself at No. 92 and sophomore Sofia Blanco is ranked No. 122.

In doubles, four Cowgirl tandems are ranked in the top 40, led by Babic and Tur Mari at No. 6. Lushkova and Adamovic moved up two spots to No. 32 after picking up a pair of wins last weekend to move to 10-2 on the season. Bolsova and Blanco are slotted at No. 37 this week.

Viki the Clincher
Senior Viktoriya has been a force early on in the Cowgirls' 2017 campaign, going 7-3 in the No. 1 singles spot.

Lushkova has clinched five of OSU's last seven wins, including a three-set thriller over Cal standout Maegan Manasse to lock up the Cowgirls' 4-2 win over No. 8 California at the ITA National Team Indoor Championships.

The Cowgirl senior also clinched OSU wins over Washington, Ole Miss, Tulsa and Cornell.

No Trouble in Doubles
Over the last two seasons, Oklahoma State has made a name for itself around the country for its strong doubles play. This year, the Cowgirls have won 12 of 14 doubles points. Over the last two seasons total, OSU has taken 45 of 48 doubles points.